Who is Eva Kaili? The Greek politician who has shocked world politics with Qatar investigation

A tragedy has unfolded in Greek politics.

A woman who has broken boundaries as the first female to be Chair of the European Parliament’s Science and Technology Options and the youngest candidate standing in the 2004 national elections in Greece has been arrested.

Eva Kaili has been a trailblazer in many respects. Her winning combination of intellect and beauty allowed her to have a television-presenting career in her 20’s.

She was born and raised in Thessaloniki, the second-largest city in Greece. Eva studied architecture and civil engineering at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. She then gained a Master of Arts degree in International and European affairs in 2008 from the University of Piraeus. She began a PhD in International Economic Policy in 2014, but is yet to complete her studies.

This is a woman of intellectual substance. Yet, corruption charges are being levied against the Greek politician.

On 9 December 2022, Kaili was arrested by Belgian Federal Police following an investigation into organised crime, corruption and money laundering tied to lobbying efforts in support of Qatar.

A suitcase of cash was found with her father upon his arrest, and bags of cash were found at her home. The same day she was suspended from both the Socialists and Democratic Group with which she sits in the European Parliament and her national party PASOK.

As part of the investigation, Belgian Police raided 16 homes and detained at least four others. One of those detained is parliamentary assistant Francesco Giorgi who is Kaili's husband. They have one daughter together, born in 2020.

Kaili's father was also arrested while on a train with a large amount of cash, having been warned by an accomplice. During the raids over €600,000 in cash was recovered by investigators.

On 12 December 2022 the Greek Anti-Money Laundering Authority announced that it had frozen all assets of Kaili and her close family members. This included all bank accounts, safes, companies and other financial asset.

The timing of the arrests coincided with the 2022 FIFA World Cup being hosted in Qatar. At the time, there was significant criticism of the hosts in the West, but during a speech at the European Parliament, Kaili praised the country's human rights record and criticised accusations of corruption made against Qatar.

On Tuesday, 13 December, the European parliament voted to strip Eva Kaili of her role as one of the body’s vice-presidents.

MEPs voted by 625 votes to one, with two abstentions, to remove Eva Kaili as one of the parliament’s 14 vice-presidents, following a decision in favour of the move by the assembly’s senior leaders.

The celebrated story of a woman rising her way through Greek politics, managing to play the game, a notoriously tricky one – especially as a woman.

Unfortunately, with power comes corruption. And Eva appears to have fallen prey to the types of nefarious characters who will circle such political figures.

Will she share her story once the investigation concludes? If so, we’ll have a window into what goes on at the highest levels of bribery.